River Ridge Man Sentenced to Over Eight Years for Receipt of Child Pornography

NEW ORLEANS, LA—CHRISTOPHER SOMMERS, 29, of River Ridge, Louisiana, was sentenced today in federal court for felonies involving the sexual exploitation of children, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

CHRISTOPHER SOMMERS was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to 100 months for receipt of child pornography. In addition, SOMMERS will be placed on supervised release for a period of 20 years and he will be required to register as a sex offender.

According to documents filed in federal court, on July 31, 2009, federal agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a federal search warrant at the defendant’s River Ridge residence after receiving information from his employer that SOMMERS’ work computer contained images of child pornography. Agents seized a personal computer, hard drives and other computer media. A subsequent computer forensic search of SOMMERS’ computer revealed that he was in possession of approximately 2,170 images and 200 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.